When the Bough Breaks (2016) User Reviews

When the Bough Breaks: Pretty paint by numbers stuff

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 29 May 2018]

Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall star in this modern day Fatal Attraction-esque movie about a couple unable to have kids who welcome a surrogate into their home.

But of course this is Hollywood so nothing goes quite to plan and before you can say damn skippy, the soon to be mom becomes enamoured with the husband.

See that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact she's a complete psychotic, but how do you combat such a person when they're carrying your child?

We've seen this before, near enough this entire film to be honest but here it's done competently enough.

Morris Chestnut tends to always play the same brooding character (And does here) and Regina Hall is someone I cannot take seriously anymore after her zany stint in the Scary Movie franchise! I expect her to break out into some stereotypical satirical crazy expletive filled rant and find myself almost dissapointed that she doesn't.

When the Bough Breaks lacks in originality but does have its moments, sadly not enough to raise the bar above distinctly average.

The Good:

Morris Chestnut

Has a couple of interesting moments

The Bad:

Regina Hall

Seen it all before

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

When a girl hits on you keep it a secret from your wife, what could possibly go wrong?

Moral of the story, don't have kids.

Psychotic Obsession

[stevendbeard · 6/10 · 9 September 2016]

I saw "When the Bough Breaks", starring Morris Chestnut-Kick-Ass 2, Under Siege 2:Dark Territory; Regina Hall-The Think Like a Man movies, Law Abiding Citizen; Glenn Morshower-X-Men First Class, 24-TV and Jaz Sinclair-Paper Towns, Rizzoli & Isles-TV.

This is a thriller about a couple who are in need of a surrogate. Morris & Regina are the married couple trying to start their own family. Every attempt has failed which leads them to a surrogate, Jaz. At first, Jaz seems perfect; she is young, healthy and willing to carry their inseminated child, but soon, things change. Jaz' boyfriend wants her to milk Morris & Regina for money. Then, Jaz starts to show interest in Morris that makes him feel uncomfortable. Then she starts showing up at his job, which gets Morris in trouble with his boss, Glenn. Things continue to escalate until pretty soon, Jiz seems to be doing her best impersonation of the psychotically obsessed Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction. As you can probably tell, there is not much new here but the actor's execution of the material is quite watchable. It's rated "PG-13" for violence, language, disturbing images and sexual content-including partial nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 47 minutes. I don't know if I would buy this one on DVD but it would make a good rental.

Too bland to be anything worthy of note

[jtindahouse · 4/10 · 5 May 2017]

I find films like 'When the Bough Breaks' very frustrating, because they have no chance of living up to their full potential even before the opening credits have rolled. The reason is that their hands are so severely tied behind their back in terms of what they are able to show and portray. There were times in this movie where I was actually surprised how far they went in terms of some graphic violence, yet on other occasions they seemed incredibly limited as to what they could show. The latter was certainly the more predominant case in the film. I can't help but think while I watch films like this that life is too short. Who really wants their films this toned down? Surely no children are out there watching a film about a topic like this. So are there adults out there craving PC, bland nonsense? If so, good on them for catering to those needs. But you'd better expect the rest of us to hate your films.

The other big problem with the film is just how "Been there, done that" it all feels. There isn't a single shred of originality in this film. Not even one moment that could possibly be in the least bit considered an original idea. The amateur nature with which this film was made was nothing short of shocking.

There aren't a lot of good aspects to mention, but if I had to point some out they would be a decent scare near the end that actually worked quite well, and a final 10 minutes or so that weren't actually half bad (although that could have just been because I was comparing them to the 90 minutes that had proceeded them). At the end of the day though my advice would be to not see this film. Everyone who gives their hard earned money to films like this is simply encouraging more films like this to be made. And that would be a very bad thing.

Judge a book by its cover

[bjornar-182-260351 · 3/10 · 29 July 2018]

«Don't judge a book by its cover», but you may judge this film by its cover. A woman (surrogate) intends to split a wealthy successful couple. That's the cover, and also the entire storyline. Sounds booring? I agree, you've seen it all before, and getting inspiration from fatal attraction doesn't help either.

Not a bad movie, but needed something to make it seem original instead of repetitive and generic.

[cosmo_tiger · 7/10 · 26 December 2016]

"When does it become a kidnapping?" John (Chestnut) and Laura (Hall) Taylor are desperate for a baby, but are unable to conceive. After years of trying they finally have found a willing surrogate and things are falling into place. Little but little things start to change and the surrogate becomes obsessed with John and everything is threatened. This is a hard movie to review. First thing I will say is that the movie is tense and dramatic. The only downside is that this is the same type of movie that has been told over and over and over. Movies like Obsessed, No Good Deed, Perfect Man….all have the same idea and while they are all good the idea is getting old and to the point of being able to know exactly what will happen. That, for me, ruins a movie more than anything. Being able to stay one step ahead in a mystery movie ruins the enjoyment. Overall, not a bad movie, but needed something to make it seem original instead of repetitive and generic. I give this a low B-.

When the Bough Breaks Follows the Formula and Fails to Bring Any New Scares or Thrills to the Table

[CANpatbuck3664 · 4/10 · 25 February 2017]

*Minor Spoilers Ahead* John Taylor (Morris Chestnut) and Laura Taylor (Regina Hall) are on top of the world in their respective professions. John is a powerful lawyer and Laura is a top-shelf chef. They live in New Orleans in an amazing house but their lives are still incomplete. They long to start a family but they have miscarried 3 times and are down to their last usable embryo. They're trying to get a surrogate and then they come across Anna (Jaz Sinclair). She's 21 and she's a waitress in New Orleans. She comes across as very genuine and Laura takes a shine to her immediately. John isn't quite sure and after meeting her boyfriend Mike (Theo Rossi) he's even less so. Mike is creepy and is very possessive of Anna. But Laura is sure and encourages him to change his mind. Little do they know there's more going on in the shadows. Mike has a plan to extort money from the happy couple and as things progress he gets more and more aggressive toward Anna to fall in line with this plan.

There is no pleasant way to say this, the majority of the plot of When the Bough Breaks has been done before. More than a few times actually, the most recent example in memory being Obsessed in 2009. This would have been okay if they had a way to switch things up or bring a fresh take on it. The surrogacy angle is relatively new but that's basically where the new stuff ends. They needed far more interesting stuff in the side-plots than whether John gets the big case at work or Laura gets the new position. We meet their subordinates for so little time that it is literally impossible to get attached to those parts of the plot at all. The scheme that Mike and Anna cook up isn't fresh, I'll admit it's one of the more interesting parts of the plot but it's also undercut by how telegraphed it is by Jaz and Theo's performances.

The other problem with When the Bough Breaks is the pace of it. The first half of this movie is pretty boring. It's meant to set things up but they slow play it so much that you can't set up any kind of tension. The story comes across as heavily melodramatic and that isn't helped by how bad the dialogue is in spots. The plot does pick up in the second half but that's when it devolves into the more illogical stuff. They keep the cops out of it for stupid reasons, John doesn't tell his wife how Anna's behaviour is changing for no good reason. It has to happen because the plot doesn't work otherwise. The second half does pick up but it gets progressively more and more outlandish to the point where in the final rampage by Anna, she stops because her water breaks. Ridiculous is the word that comes to mind when I think about the ending of this movie.

The acting wasn't all bad but this is the type of movie that doesn't do the actors/actresses any favours. You would think this kind of stuff would be beneath people like Michael K. Williams, Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut. They're all accomplished actors and this movie makes them look like amateurs. But they weren't the worst casualties, Theo Rossi was awful in this movie. I know he isn't a terrible actor, he was solid in Luke Cage but this movie made him look laughably bad. Jaz Sinclair is beautiful but she didn't have the chops to carry this movie like she needed to. She's definitely got potential but she's slightly robotic at the start and when things go south, she can't quite make it work.

I've been pretty hard on this movie but I've seen worse. This is formulaic and that's the long and the short of it. It made money at the box office and we'll end up getting more movies like it in the future. I can't recommend this though, there are better thrillers out there that supply what you actually want from this. There are no thrills to be had here and that was the sole job it had to deliver on.

A Good Movie to Rent/ Watch At Home

[bieberlova · 7/10 · 2 January 2017]

Some people on here really want to be oppressed. There is nothing "racist" about this film, LMAO. The actor who plays the abusive boyfriend, Theo Rossi, is not even white, so please stop complaining. Also, "When The Bough Breaks" was clearly marketed as a Black Thriller, so if you dislike the .0001% of movies that actually aren't white male- centric, I suggest you don't watch them. Just A thought.

This a good movie, with great acting by all three of the leads. Jaz SInclair and Regina Hall are the unsung heroes of this film. I find Jaz Sinclair incredibly sexy. There was something very magnetizing and intense about her performance. Even during the character's most brutal moments, I still felt the urge to protect Anna's sweet face. (I am saying this as a straight woman, btw)

"When the Bough Breaks" is probably not a movie I'd see in theaters, but it is worth the watch nonetheless.

It is cliché to call this movie clichéd

[Nielie10 · 3/10 · 1 January 2017]

I am uncertain if this movie was made for the theaters or for Lifetime. I really liked the cast and the antagonist but that is as far as my liking goes.

Pursuant to the subject "cliched", I was not even slightly startled at any point in this movie, as a matter of fact, the only surprise was when I saw the credits rolling, thought it wouldn't have ended.

***SPOILERS***

If they had killed off one of the Taylors, I could guarantee that the movie would have gotten a better review, wouldn't be great but good enough to spend money on. The plot was weak and flat, the so- called climax - wait what? - there wasn't a climax, well maybe but I refuse to call it a climax since the only excitement I got was to hear the baby cry.

Overall this movie was horrible and I have almost had it with this amount of clichés hitting the theaters.

Would have been better on Lifetime

[rgkarim · 7/10 · 10 September 2016]

Robbie K here, and I'm back with yet another review on the latest blockbuster to storm the theaters. This review we are going to focus on another thriller, one that is promoted to be full of drama, suspense, and scandalous affairs. Yes, I'm talking about When the Bough Breaks! While certainly looking cliché in the trailers, we never know what the final product will be. So let's get cracking shall we?

LIKES: • Good Acting • Pace moves quickly while keeping drama • Delivers what is promised

As we often see in the Drama genre, a majority of our cast falls into the overacting territory, turning our characters into blubbery, quivering, overemotional messes that have you rolling your eyes. Surprisingly, most of our cast manages to avoid this scenario and keeps their emotions in check and somewhat relatable. Morris Chestnut was my favorite of the bunch, developing a character that was respectable, believable, and one worth rooting for. He was suave and sophisticated, willing to do whatever it took to protect his family without becoming a rebel without a cause. Regina Hall, an actress who wears many hats, did a nice job in the supporting role of the hardworking wife. While certainly not the greatest role, she worked well with her limited screen time and reacted well to her fellow actors. Of course the other show stealer is Jaz Sinclair who seems to have the psychotic jealousy embedded in her DNA. Sinclair seemed to play two characters in this role. On the one side she plays a seductive, manipulative, and an evil mastermind capable of crafting schemes. The other side an obsessive, emotional, and somewhat horny minx whose sole purpose is to make love. She does both personalities justice and mixes well with her fellow cast members.

In regards to the actual story, well the movie delivers exactly what you expected from the trailers. It is a straight forward story about a couple learning the harsh lesson of showing caution when hiring surrogates and how they deal with the nut job carrying their baby. The drama is intense and the suspense is drawn out, but much of the audience in my showing relished every minute of it. The pace of the movie is fast (which I like) and provided an atmosphere of urgency that increased the suspense, thereby keeping my attention. An added bonus of this pace, was that it kept the emotional drama in perspective, which made for an a better plot.

DISLIKES • Nothing really original • Predictable on so many levels • The Wife had a limited role • So many idiotic moments • Still overdramatic at times

Originality is hard to come by in this day and age, but this film certainly made no attempt to inject uniqueness into the genome. When the Bough Breaks follows the same formula that so many television Horror/Dramas employ from the very linear dialogue to the seductive moves our nut jobs like to perform. The bottom line of all of this..is that this movie is certainly predictable and took some of the edge way…at least for me.

What also was a downer to me was how little the wife played in this movie, despite what the trailers promised. Rather than helping uncover the deception at hand, she pretty much only acted as a morale counterbalance and a means for Anna's character to go nuts. In addition, despite all the money, connections, technology, and smarts our heroes had…they were surprisingly stupid at times. I understand the reasoning is that she had their baby hostage inside her stomach, but certainly after the first attempt to break up the family they would have invested in some cameras or equipment to catch her in the act. The stupidity also extended into the "exciting" climaxes where both parties made mistakes that resulted in further injury. Sure we all have our idiotic moments, but in the span of nine months with a lunatic, surely they could have learned some lessons. But if logic took precedence, then that ever addicting drama would be diluted right? Despite the decent balance of drama, there are still moments where things still turn to the melodramatic. Most of these moments do involve the crazier side of Jaz, mostly in the form of temper tantrums, or hypersexual moments that were cheesy and missing steam. Oh well, what else would you expect in a drama.

The VERDICT

Again, you get exactly what the trailers promised in terms of this movie. It is a drama with lots of stereotypical ploys brought to life by a talented cast of actors and actresses. Unfortunately, it still uses the bag of tricks we have come to know and lacks much originality to warrant this film a big screen visit. It's not that I didn't enjoy parts of this movie, I just think its place was more justified on Lifetime amidst their usual scandalous films. Nevertheless, the recommended audiences are fans of lifetime movies and those looking for a low key "horror" movie that won't disturb your sleep cycle. Otherwise, skip this flick for the weekend and catch the other movies coming in the next few weeks.

Drama/Horror/Mystery: 7.0 Movie Overall: 5.5

Sucks

[yvonnelasha · 1/10 · 27 January 2019]

This was a total waste of 108 minutes and my life! Never again will I watch a movie by this doctor who looks like his name should be Sebastian. This movie was too predictable to slow and extremely extremely extremely a waste of time it didn't even Endwell who went to jail with the cops come for it was just a total waste do not wish your time and watch this movie. It is just as bad if not worse than the Aaliyah bio pick that Alexandria ship ruined and wasted 2 hours of my life that I can never returned so now there's another 108 minutes of my life that has been wasted!

Ignore the low rates,this movie is excellent.

[himes-38118 · 10/10 · 19 September 2016]

Young, professional and successful, John and Laura (Regina Hall) Taylor desperately want to have a baby, but are unable to conceive.

After exhausting all other options, the couple hire Anna, a beautiful young woman who agrees to become a surrogate mother for the Taylors.

Everything seems fine until Anna starts to develop a dangerous fixation with John as the pregnancy moves further along. The Taylors now find themselves playing a deadly game with a psychopath who holds the key to their future.

I advise you to ignore the low rates and watch this excellent movie.

I guarantee you are gonna enjoy watching this interesting movie from the beginning till the end.

Everything is correct?

[shatguintruo · 7/10 · 22 December 2016]

Immaculately dressed man. Totally aseptic environment. Man: lawyer, well married, rich, highly regarded by the boss. All according to the "American Dream". What's wrong with these scenes? No, I will not answer. I leave it to anyone who reads these lines. Laura Taylor (Regina Hall) and John Taylor (Morris Chestnut) live this very well-driven drama at the hands of Jon Cassar. Laura has a serious health problem: if she tries to get pregnant again, she can put her life at risk. Solution: Look for a "surrogate". The search is insane. But ... here comes a humble, quiet, friendly candidate who immediately conquers Laura's heart. John (as a good lawyer) does not think it a good idea to hire her, by meeting Anna Walsh (Jaz Sinclair) ... suspects that everything is "so right" that you can distrust ... And then the suspicions are confirmed: Anna has a boyfriend Mike (Theo Rossi - in few but striking appearances) who lives to apply blows on desperate wives to have a child ... The cinematography is excellent (David Moxness) capturing the environment as one should do in a good thriller. Highlight for Daniel Coe (Construction Coordinator) for the sensational work and for John Frizzell (Music). On a scale of 1 to 10, my vote is 7 (very good).

When decent potential breaks

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 24 August 2018]

There is some decent talent involved. The premise for the story intrigued and sounded quite good, regardless of its lack of originality. The cover gave the sense it would be fairly suspenseful and interesting. 'When the Bough Breaks' was definitely not a film that sounded like it was going to be a disaster hearing about it.

It as a film is still not that much of a disaster too, there are merits here. The decent potential shown initially is sadly not sustained and generally not lived up to, so sadly 'When the Bough Breaks' is not a particularly good film either. As indicated just now, there was no initial bias against it or wanting to dislike it at all. Far from the truth, actually thought it had potential to be an unexceptional but not too bad film. It was a real shame it wasn't that, but it could have been so much worse.

'When the Bough Breaks' does have good elements. The acting from Regina Hall, Michael K. Williams and Morris Chestnut is better than average, Chestnut actually being quite good and suitably intensely brooding. Definitely the best thing about the film. The production values are not too cheap and the music is ominous without being too intrusive or obvious.

First impressions were a promising start that did intrigue and had some slow-burning suspense.

Sadly, that slow-burning suspense was far from sustained all the way through. 'When the Bough Breaks' generally lacks tension, danger and suspense, hurt by that it treads familiar ground so often that any surprises or anything new cannot be seen. The characters fail to be interesting and don't have much to make one endear to them, it was purposeful for some but don't think that was intent for all of them to be so. The direction does well with the visuals but in terms of the storytelling it fails, being pedestrian in a lot of the first half and then losing control in the second. It gets melodramatic in places and should have been much bolder, for a film with this concept it was rather tame.

Promising beginning aside, the first half is on the dull side. As said by others while the second half does pick up things start getting silly, rushed and implausible, some of it making one feel stupid, culminating in an ending that ends too suddenly and almost unfinished-like. The dialogue is cheesy and very difficult to take seriously, also not flowing naturally. Jaz Sinclair seemed out of her element and doesn't have the chops to carry the lead role and the film, while Theo Rossi is awful, no engagement whatsoever.

Concluding, not terrible but also not good. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Not bad - crazy people out there!

[gebased · 5/10 · 24 February 2018]

I liked it. At first, I thought maybe it was a Lifetime chick flick. But, it was actually on HBO. It had good build up, although you kind of knew what was going to happen. The story line was pretty good and it kept me interested.

A young woman who is a surrogate for this rich couple falls in love with the husband and becomes obsessed with him.

[Amari-Sali · 6/10 · 11 September 2016]

Overview

Since 2014, maybe even before that, there has been a movie starring familiar Black actors dealing with someone crazy every September. No Good Deed started the trend and now When The Bough Breaks continues it. And just like the rest of those movies, unless you see it in a theater with folks giving commentary it is hardly worth viewing.

Trigger Warning(s): Maggots | Depiction Of Human And Animal Carcass | Implied Self Harm

Main Storyline

For quite sometime, Chef Laura Taylor (Regina Hall) and husband John Taylor Esq. (Morris Chestnut) have been trying to have a child. But now they are on their last viable embryo and after an extensive interview process, they think they have found the one. Well, Laura thought she found the one. The girl's name is Anna (Jaz Sinclair) and she seems sweet, shy, and just adorable. Problem is, she and her fiancée Mike (Theo Rossi) are both hiding something. Which, if Laura isn't careful, as well as John, may mean they won't finally become a family.

Highlights

Both Regina Hall and Jaz Sinclair are the only ones who really stand out and make this film to me. Hall, because I'm just so used to her being in comedies, does well in a dramatic role. Mind you, it wasn't a Mo'Nique in Precious type of turn, but it does make you see that she can be more than a comedic actress. Then with Sinclair, honestly it is just nice to see a new face. Granted, we saw her in Paper Towns as Radar's girlfriend, but she didn't really get to shine in that film. In this one, though, she gets to show some range. Like she could easily play a love interest similar to how you see girls in many a young adult novel adaptation, or else she could potentially be a serious dramatic actress. I mean, as crazy as Anna can get, and we are told she is, Sinclair never feels over the top for some reason. She knows how to give the right kind of stare, coo her voice to the point of seeming like a femme fatale, and you can just as much imagine her cutting someone with a knife as she could with her eyes.

Low Points

Like so many movies released nowadays, rather than the trailer simply enticing you, it pretty much reveals everything. Which was a bit of a bummer for this movie since it potentially could have been good. However, between the trailer and director Jon Cassar, sadly things are made too obvious. Take us constantly seeing Anna watching in the distance, taking away from the possibility of her surprising us with what she has known, seen, and sometimes they even reveal what she has done which if they didn't, could have left us guessing. Especially when it comes to one situation dealing with Mike I don't want to spoil.

But, in general, what upsets me the most about this film is Anna is set up so perfectly. She is sweet, poor, and has that look of someone you want to help and be there for. Making it where when we learn John has a private detective friend named Roland (Michael K. Williams), and he looks into Anna and learns a bunch of stuff, it makes you wish some things were moved around to put Anna on the defensive a bit. Especially considering how her relationship with Mike is.

I could go on and on about how things could have been better, but at the end of the day I'm in the audience and let me just advise you that unless you see this film at a theater where the audience usually provides commentary, it isn't worth going to the movies to see. In fact, if you have been following the recent trend of movies similar to this, then it might not be worth you seeing at all. Yeah, Sinclair could be a potential up and coming talent, but this movie's story- line and the stupidity of John when it comes to Anna honestly is so frustrating. To the point that I only got through watching it in theaters due to the comical comments the ladies behind me were making. If it wasn't for their jokes, this may have become background noise for a Sunday morning nap. So with that said, unless you are the type who just likes supporting Black films, even if they aren't worth throwing your dollars at, leave this one alone.

Same ol' drivel

[angelsbowbhim · 5/10 · 17 October 2020]

Sad to see stars like Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall sign on for such a rehashed and unrealistic plot. Who's writing this trash, anyways, people who have never talked to anyone in a real marriage? That whole, "I think she's got a 'thing' for you. giggle-hee-hee, It's okay, I think it's cute" said no woman EVER regarding some younger woman who her husband has already stated he finds physically attractive. Such bad decisions by the main characters when it was obvious things were going south made it easy to not care what happened to them. And that whole, "I can't have a baby...I'm not a real woman" quote by Hall's character...puh-leease! Can we stop with that reproductive-normative mess, like motherhood is the be-all-end-all for every woman? ~Sigh~ Chestnut and Hall deserved a much better script and a much better plot for their level of talent. They each have been in the business far too long to be starring in a storyline that is so overdone and repetitive. Nothing to see here folks...

I am happy and in control of my life.

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 27 September 2017]

John Taylor (Morris Chestnut) is a successful corporate attorney ready to make "partner." His wife Laura (Regina Hall) is a successful whatever ready to make CEO. They can't have children and have one last frozen embryo. They hire the very nice Anna Walsh (Jaz Sinclair) to carry the child. Her abusive boyfriend Michael (Theo Rossi) is what brings her into their home, a really nice home...one she would want to live in... and live with a guy like John. From here the plot goes as expected.

We have seen similar films when a young rival is brought into the home for a number of reasons. This one was okay, with the actors going through the motions, waiting for the next big gig. The film is rated PG-13 which means they cut away at all the good scenes.

Guide: Brief sex. Near nudity. Not much swearing.

Bad

[chery_e · 1/10 · 19 December 2019]

Really bad.... It was hard to watch until the end. An end that was pathetic by the way.

Pretty good

[brittanyrochellel · 7/10 · 7 August 2018]

It's acitally a pretty good thriller. Although, some parts are very easy to call. I like a lot of the cast which makes it even better. Scary reality of having a surrogate.

When you have a recipe and screw that up, it's your fault

[Robert_duder · 3/10 · 22 January 2017]

The stalker-woman thriller film has been done again and again and done well and done not so well but there is absolutely a class out there for it and sometimes they are even memorable! Single White Female feels like one of the matriarchs of this genre but you have Fear, Swimfan, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Fatal Attraction. Disclosure...I mean they are a dime a dozen but the ones I've seen are usually at least entertaining so I thought this was a surefire thing for an evening of scoffs and eye rolling but ultimately entertaining. To say they missed the mark on this is giving them too much credit. The story is fine but the characters are flat, the overacting is horrendous, the story is achingly predictable even for a genre film and despite potentially good cast members, they are not good in their roles. Everyone just seems to be going through the motions and it turns in one of the worst films I've seen in 2016.

Morris Chestnut can be a decent actor. I've never seen him do anything outstanding but this does nothing to build his career. He is boring, vapid, has zero chemistry with his two female co-leads and feels very out of place. I don't think he wanted in this anymore than we did. Regina Hall has a similar background but she too is not really a leading lady and this proves she can't carry a film on her own. But in her defence, the character she plays is downright horrible. She's a weak, spineless, blubbering moron who will let her husband do anything to get the baby she wants. The key to a great stalker-thriller is the role of the crazy person and it makes for an interesting performance when they're good at it. Jaz Sinclair doesn't even get top billing on IMDb are the crazy surrogate. She is way overacting the entire time, isn't the least bit threatening and no one can overpower her even when she's in the throws of labour. It's insane. There are a few familiar faces in the supporting cast and their performance and the look on their face will demonstrate how much they just wanted their paycheck.

I honestly don't know how this got made let alone released in theatres. It's straight to video at BEST and another reviewer suggested better left on Lifetime but even Lifetime knows what it does well at. Ironically director Jon Cassar is a fantastic Television director. He has a lot of talent but much like the cast he must have phoned this in or in editing the film was chopped to barely recognizable because it's bad...like really really bad. And in a crowded genre like this, there are modern day classics that are so much better worth spending the hour and a half on. This is utterly avoidable and hopefully completely forgettable. The ending is so unsatisfying that you can barely find anything here redeemable at all. 3/10

A Good Movie

[pthef · 8/10 · 28 September 2016]

This movie is, I believe, a remake of "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" from 1992. At least, a similar set of elements comes up in both movies, this time with a black cast rather than white. One way or another, it was a good movie, full of suspenseful points, and the acting was good. I liked it.

John and Laura Taylor cannot conceive a child, despite having made all efforts, and have resorted to hiring a surrogate mother, who is sweet (and seriously cute) and generally easy to like and love, a girl named Anna Walsh. But Anna isn't all she seems to be, living an unstable life and hiding her own deep and dark secrets as she develops inappropriate feelings for John, and her obsession with him turns dangerous and violent. What happens next? Buy a ticket and see the movie. LOL

PH

Some misplaced characters but worth watching

[maritmarten · 7/10 · 17 May 2021]

Okay This film has major and minor points.

It felt a bit weird that those well developed people chose a shy 21 yr old girl, who clearly looked like she was under the rule of her boyfriend. A boyfriend that looked and behaved like the biggest creep that they could find in the firmworld.. Then there is this rich couple. They have it all (where would they ever find time for a baby?), but being spoilt rotten, I (Laura) want a kid and everyone has to bow for that. I found Laura the least likeable in the film. She screams it quite often: I want that baby!

Anna feels like this lost girl, a breeding machine.

But, there was a nice tension. Thus we liked it.

a lame version of an already lame type of bad junk-food for mostly female audiences

[Quinoa1984 · 1/10 · 9 September 2016]

Sure, while everyone else in the critical world seems to be off at TIFF, I'll just stay behind here and watch the swill that gets put in the trough... and now I'm talking to myself. That-that's chaos theory.

It's amazing how with such low expectations When the Bough Breaks manages to surprise with how dull and bloodless most of it is (not to mention being a weak PG-13 when it could just go all out for adults with an R), and then when it needs to bring the insanity it completely drops the ball, miserably. The only decent thing I can say about the whole thing is that Morris Chestnut is trying, but that doesn't mean much when he is given such a script that is an insult to boilers and plates.

My wife informs me that there are actually two other Lifetime movies about surrogate crazy women who are picked by a Happy-Married-Couple(TM), and this does NOT include last year's quasi-satire of these movies as well as Lifetime in general, Will Ferrell & Kristin Wigg's A Deadly Adoption. I'm not sure how these stack up with those filler in-between diaper and make-up commercials (according to her, an avid watcher of those movies for guilty pleasure reasons, this ranks as the worst), but on its own its key problem is that it is written by a guy who has no problem plugging away with the formula and generic beats that come with a story like this - set-up where everything seems fine except for the nasty abusive boyfriend of the surrogate woman (easily a highlight of the movie, but in it too briefly before he's called back as a regular goon in Gotham City) - until he tries to ambiguity for how we feel about this pregnant psycho-hose-beast.

We're force-fed backstory about this young woman, this at around the 2/3rd mark (because of course, and sadly featuring Michael K Williams who doesn't seem to want to be here, and who can blame him), and it doesn't make sense with the rest of how the story unfolds. The information should/could be used perhaps to give us some sympathy for her, or that the husband, who she is trying to seduce, can turn the tables now that he knows who she really is. Neither of these things happen. This info dump turns out to be basically useless, telling us "this bitch is crazy y'all!" but we know this already from after about 20 minutes in. All we're left with them is the last act of Fatal Attraction, and trust me, I wasn't going in expecting that (though I should've by this f***ing point), and yet it doesn't have much madness or fire in its belly to make it a guilty pleasure in any real way.

Because of its dullness it also feels every single one of its 107 minutes - far too long for something that is in essence a weaker version of other *TV movies meant for the lowest discerning denominator* - and except for Chestnut, who also executive produced, this is full of weak and hot air. A shame since, perhaps with a stronger script or a less lazy director, there could be more for newcomer Jaz Sinclair, who has screen presence and chemistry with Chestnut in her scenes with him. Once you know every single step this is going to go, and any potential campy elements are knocked off far too early, it's counting down the minutes till it gets to where it's gonna get to.

It's a piece of Cheese-Filler, and though less ambitious still not quite as awful as Warcraft (current #1 worst of for this year), but it's close enough.

It's been done before and way better

[deloudelouvain · 5/10 · 11 January 2017]

Well I hope this is not going to be the new definition for horror movies because When The Bough Breaks isn't one. It's one of those movies that has been done before, and way better also. You could call it a thriller but I didn't thrill much because you basically know what's going to happen with every step of the movie. Now if the actors were exceptional then you could have saved this movie with their great acting skills. Unfortunately it's not the case. They're just mediocre actors, the kind you will never remember their name. You know their faces when you see them but that's about it. But if you never saw the story of a crazy pregnant bitch that falls in love with the sperm donor then you might like this one, but if I was in your shoes I would watch Fatal Attraction again instead. Otherwise just skip it. That's a better option.

The Ultimate Free Pass to Bust a Chestnut.

[FallenEye · 6/10 · 31 December 2020]

I enjoyed this movie, though towards the end it started feeling a little draining, so much so that I actually appreciate its open ended type ending, because that permitted the movie to end a little sooner. The cinematography was well polished, and the acting was adequate, though Jaz Sinclair's performance was lacking at certain points, especially in the beginning.

But, though her acting wasn't the best, Jaz is incredibly gorgeous, and though the circumstances weren't the best, at least Anna's antics afforded John the opportunity to be given a free pass. If taking one for the team is having to allow yourself to be seduced by Jaz, then, taking one for the team it is.

The plot isn't new, however, I appreciate how the movie tried to freshen up this all too familiar story, while Jaz Sinclair alone, made watching this movie worth it. Regina Hall was stunning too, but Jaz was the sexier lady in the red dress.

I want to give this movie a solid 6/10, but it did start to lose momentum a little bit towards the end, so I'll give it 5.6/10, and round it off to 6.